Summer Squash and Zucchini

The Roommate Diaries, Volume 3: The dreadfully uncultivated girl never has eaten a squash she liked. What a mockery of good cuisine. The finished product is way colorful (one of the many reasons why I love it) and the vibrant color apparently caught her eye, for she couldn't stop eating... The satire of this whole story? She continues to scorn me, yet loves everything I make. Score: fearless cook-3, roomie- 0.

2 lbs squash and zucchini, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, sliced
2 smallish tomatoes or one large tomato, peeled and cut into wedges
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Olive oil
6 slices of cheese - cheddar
Basil, either dry or chopped fresh
Salt and pepper

Put onion, garlic, squash, and pepper into a large saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Put on high heat and brown the vegetables to a golden sheen. While browning, sprinkle basil and salt and pepper on the vegetables. When vegetables are slightly browned, remove from heat, places cheese on top, and cover the pan.
In a separate fry pan, cook tomatoes for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Letting the juices evaporate) After 5 minutes, add the tomatoes to the rest of the vegetables and stir.
This recipe courtesy of Elise (Unlike most recipes I commandeer, I didn't change one part of this recipe!)

Roasted Cauliflower

The Roommate Diaries, Volume 2: One might wonder how on this extremely eco-friendly Earth to make cauliflower not taste like a dirty garden root. The answer? Drown it in other delectable flavors. The aforementioned dieting roomie has always hated cauliflower, but actually decided this way of preparing the bleached veggie was edible after sampling, then resampling, oversampling, secretly sampling, etc. Score: fearless cook-2, roomie 0.

1 cauliflower head
3 cloves garlic, minced
About 2 tsp lemon juice
About 2 TBSP olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or more)

Set oven to 400'. Cut caluiflower into florets and put in a lightly greased caserole dish. Toss in garlic. Squeeze lemon juice over cauliflower (not too much or it will overpower) and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (more pepper than you think). Cook for 25-30 minutes, uncovered, until the top is lightly browned. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese!
This recipe courtesy of Elise

Sauteed Swiss Chard and Bacon

The Roommate Diaries, Volume 1: My exquisite roommate decided to go on quite a strict diet. "I ONLY EAT VEGETABLES NOW!" she screamed quietly. So, I bought some fresh veggies at the grocer and what did she do? Stuck up her haughty little nose. Hah. Little did she know what was in store for her palate. Swiss chard. One of nature's delicacies unknown or mistaken to the untrained eye. You either hate it or love it. Bacon. Another one of nature's delicacies. WITH THEIR POWERS COMBINED, a masterpiece was born.

1 bunch Swiss chard
1 TBSP olive oil
2 strips bacon (cut into 1/8 pieces)
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Slice the chard stems into 1-inch pieces. Stack the remaining leaves in a pile, roll together, and slice into 1/2-inch ribbons. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add bacon and saute until browned, keeping the fat. Add onion and garlic and cook until transluscent. Add the stems, cook for 3-4 minutes, then add vinegar and pepper flakes. Add the leaves in batches. They are way too fluffy to put in all at the same time. Once the leaves wilt down, add the next batch. Stir occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes. Enjoy the party in your mouth as two seemingly opposite food items collide.

This recipe courtesy of Patrick and Gina Neely

Creamy Spinach Rigatoni

Mixing chili powder and spinach sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. So naturally, in the pot it goes. Whaddayaknow? 30 minutes later, I can't even tell there's a Southern hemisphere spice in there! This dish makes you feel pretty good about yourself weight-wise, but doesn't make you feel like a health conscious Bunnicula. Note: I recommend fresh spinach, as frozen tends to be a bit on the slimy side.

2 TBSP flour
2 1/4 cup milk
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 TBSP olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb skinless, boneless chicken cut in 1 inch chunks
10-oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3 TBSP Parmesan cheese
10 oz rigatoni pasta

Cook pasta. Gradually whisk milk into flour in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and whisk in chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir for about 5 minutes, until mixture slightly thickens, then remove from heat. In a large skillet, heat oil, add garlic and cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute. Add chicken and cook until browned. Stir in spinach. Stir in milk mixture, cheddar, and Parmesan, cooking until cheese has melted and chicken is cooked through. Transfer chicken mix to a large bowl, add rigatoni and toss to mix!

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

These taste like, well, old fashioned cookies from a bakery or something! The family secret? Spices, spices, spices. These babies have a lot of weird spices that sound like they should be in a Starbucks frap, not a cookie. (It's a good thing.)

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup shortening
2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp soda
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup water (if the dough is too floury)
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400'. Cream fats and sugars for 4 minutes. Mix everything else in thoroughly. I usually use most of the water because I live in a desert (aka Utah) but if you don't need to use any, great! Drop by teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and delicious-looking!

YIELD: This is a double batch! So expect a buttload of cookies!

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

This is a weird recipe. Not gonna lie. I mean, when do you NOT cook eggs? And since when does a "raw" egg taste so good? And when did bacon and spaghetti taste SO delectable together? Oh man, you just have to bypass all the weird things about this dish, make it, and THEN your eyes will be opened. It's like a yummy heart attack on a plate.

2 TBSP butter
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 lb bacon (diced)
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (I use the cheapy kind from a can)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb spaghetti

Start boiling water for the spaghetti. Melt butter with oil in a small frying pan. When butter foams, add bacon. Saute over medium heat until well-cooked, but not totally crunchy. Try to siphon a couple teaspoons of the grease out, but part bacon grease is what makes the dish SO yummy. Keep warm.

Beat egg yolks in a large serving dish. Beat in cream, Parmesan, salt and pepper. (THIS DISH SHOULD BE QUITE PEPPERY). Make sure your spaghetti is cooking. Immediately after the spaghetti is done, drain, and dump in the egg mixture dish. Toss quickly. (The hot spaghetti coats and semi-cooks the eggs, so don't worry about getting sick) Add sauteed bacon and toss until mixed. Serve immediately and be prepared to gain a couple pounds.

Just so you know, this dish does NOT keep well in the fridge.

Greek Artisan Bread

I've never made a hard-crust bread, but always wanted to. Fascinatingly, this bread recipe is traditional Greek peasant bread. The entire process took three hours, but that was three hours of my life I would have wasted anyway. It was pretty easy, and not that different from normal bread. It's really dense, and hearty!

2 TBSP dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup flour
8 cups of flour
2 TBSP salt
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 TBSP milk
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP honey (if you don't have honey, don't worry about it)

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Slowly add the 1/2 flour and mix until all lumps are gone and it forms a thick liquid. Rise for 15-20 minutes.

Mix remaining flour with salt in in a large mixing bowl, and make a well in the center. Add oil, honey, milk, yeast mixture, and 2 cups of the water in the well. Pull in the flour slowly and mix with hands until the dough starts to form a ball. (Seriously, do it with your hands!) If you need more water, add small amounts from the remaining 1/2 cup. (I used about 1/4 cup) On a floured surface, knead until smooth and doesn't stick to your hands.

Put dough in a lightly oiled mixing bowl and roll until all sides of the dough are lightly oiled. Cover the bowl with 3 dishtowels: one dry, one dampened with warm water (wring it out people), and the other dry. Rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Punch down and knead for 5-6 minutes on a floured surface. It will be extremely hard to knead, but keep going! Divide the dough into three loaves and form into round (or oblong baguette-shaped) loaves. Place several inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets and cover with the dishtowls again. Rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450'. Score the tops of the loaves 3-4 times and bake for 30-35 minutes until browned. Eat it with jam while it's still hot! YUM!

Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

I'm a poor college student. It's no secret. So naturally, I have a bottle of Ranch in the fridge, a .50 cent mayo container and that about totals it for my salad dressing collection. Sheesh, I just wanted a healthy salad dressing! Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (aka collar-man dressing [check it out!]) has always been my favorite dressing, so I attempted to recreate it. Usually I don't condone About.com but this recipe turned out pretty good! The dressing is super good on salad, but also amazing to dip in bread if you don't want a butter overload. Especially homemade artisan bread (see above...) or bread sticks. It does have a predominately olive oily taste, so I reduced the olive oil. You might want to substitute half the olive oil with canola. FYI- It'll coagulate in the fridge, but be good as new after a little 10 second zap in the microwave.

2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
1 tsp brown sugar
1 garlic clove (crushed)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 TBSP water

Whisk everything together except olive oil and water. Slowly add olive oil and water and stir until everything mixed well. YIELD: About 1 cup of yummy dressing!